Abstract
Vegetated coastal ecosystems sequester carbon rapidly relative to terrestrial ecosystems. Coastal wetlands are poorly represented in land surface models, but work is underway to improve process-based, predictive modeling of these ecosystems. Here, we identify guiding questions, potential simulations, and data needs to make progress in improving representation of vegetation in terrestrial–aquatic interfaces, with a focus on coastal and estuarine ecosystems. We synthesize relevant plant traits and environmental controls on vegetation that influence carbon cycling in coastal ecosystems. We propose that models include separate plant functional types (PFTs) for mangroves, graminoid salt marshes, and succulent salt marshes to adequately represent the variation in aboveground and belowground productivity between common coastal wetland vegetation types. We also discuss the drivers and carbon storage consequences of shifts in dominant PFTs. We suggest several potential approaches to represent the diversity in vegetation tolerance and adaptations to fluctuations in salinity and water level, which drive key gradients in coastal wetland ecosystems. Finally, we discuss data needs for parameterizing and evaluating model implementations of coastal wetland vegetation types and function.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 938-951 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | New Phytologist |
| Volume | 238 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2023 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research program as part of research in Earth System Model Development within the Earth and Environmental System Modeling Program. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). We would like to thank Nathan Armistead and Mark Robbins for graphic design of the figures. We would also like to thank Teri O'Meara, Pat Megonigal, Nick Ward, and an anonymous reviewer for valuable feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. This work was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research program as part of research in Earth System Model Development within the Earth and Environmental System Modeling Program. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT‐Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725. The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe‐public‐access‐plan ). We would like to thank Nathan Armistead and Mark Robbins for graphic design of the figures. We would also like to thank Teri O'Meara, Pat Megonigal, Nick Ward, and an anonymous reviewer for valuable feedback that greatly improved the manuscript.
Keywords
- carbon cycling
- coastal wetlands
- land surface models
- mangroves
- salinity tolerance
- salt marshes